Bailkoad-chair



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

JOHN S. ROBINSON, LEVI HERENDEEN, AND GEORGE SI-IELDON, OF CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.

RAILROAD-CHAIR.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN S.' ROBINSON, LEVI I-IERENDEEN, and GEORGE SHELDON, of the town of Canandaigua, county of Ontario, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad- Ohairs; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification', in which- Figure 1, 1s a perspective view of the chair and rails; Fig. 2 a side view and Fig. 4 an end view of the same, and Fig. 3 an end view of the chair by itself.

The same letters in all the ligures refer to like parts.

This improvement is on that kind of chair usually called a key chair, in which a wooden pin or key is driven in by the side of the rails to tighten them in their places and deaden the sound &c.

The improvement consists in placing the spike holes, nearly or directly under the key when it is in its place so that when the spikes and key are both in their places the heads of the spikes will be in contact with the key, which therefore prevents them from jarring out, and they in their turn in a manner soon to be described prevent the key from arring out.

In the drawings A is the chair, which is placed at the junction of the two rails R, R.

B, is the key and a, a, the spikes.

The sides or lips c, c, of the chair are made of proper shape to grasp the rail by its flanges at the bottom, and one of them (or both of them if desired) is mad with a recess on the inside to receive a key B. Fig. 3 is an end view of the chair and shows the shape of these lips, Fig. 4L is the same view with the rail represented and a key B, of proper shape driven in beside it.

The lips c, o, are made of requisite thickness to give the strength and have beads or ribs b, Z9, on them to increase their stiffness and strength.

The ends of the rails, as is usual, have notches cut in their lower flanges at a proper distance from the end for the spikes to catch into. One of these notches is represented in Fig. 1, at n. The spike holes n are so placed that the spikes pass through 18,519, dated October 27, 1857.

these notches, as is shown in Fig. 4, and the holes are shown by dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3. I

When the spikes and key are driven, the heads a, a, of the spikes, which are hooked as is represented, stand under the key B, and in contact with it. The key therefore prevents the spikes from working up and jarring out. But it is found in practice that though the spikes be driven tightly upon the chair at first, when the weight of a train comes upon the rails over the chair, it presses it downward into the timber upon which it is laid, and the spikes remaining as first driven, their heads are pressed into the key (which goes downward with the chair) and make dents in it, by which the spikes hold the key and prevent it from moving in either direction. As the weight goes off the joint toward the middle of the rail, the spring of the rail itself and the weight at its middle, throws the chair quickly back up to its former position. The consequence is, it hits the heads of the spikes a blow which tends to drive them up and loosen them. As this effect is produced by every wheel that passes over, and is much increased by the jar and shake occasioned by heavy loads and high speeds, the spikes very often get loose enough to fly out of their places entirely when there are no means employed to hold them down.

Keys have never been used in chairs heretofore with any great success, for the sun and rain would shrink and swell them till they became loose, and then they would quickly jar out.

In other key chairs which have been made, the spike holes instead of being placed next the rail, on the side where the key was driven, were placed in ears or flanges on the outside of the chair, where their only use was to hold the chair itself down. In this chair, the spikes not only hold the chair down, but catch into the notches in the rail so as to hold that, lengthwise, and also since they are placed under the key they cannot work out, and the tendency they have to Work out but tightens the key and prevents that from Working out.

/Ve do not claim as our invention the application of a key to a chair to deaden the sound &c., nor do we claim placing the spike holes so that the spikes Will catch in key to hold the spikes from Working up and l0 the notches in the rails, butalso in the manner described causing the We do claim as oui1 invention and Wish spikes to prevent the key from Work-ing out.

' to secure by Letters-Patent, JOHN S. ROBINSON. n 5 The placing of the spike holes nearly or LEVI HERENDEEN. e

directly under the key, so that the spike GEORGE SHELDON.

heads can come in Contact with it, and the Witnesses:

spikes themselves pass through the notches H. METCALF, in the rails if desired, and thus causing the CHARLES E. EMERY. "Q 

